Review and Giveaway: A Merry Montessori Christmas

Have all of the ideas shared in the Montessori Holiday Hop gotten you inspired? There’s still a bit more time in this holiday season, and I have the ultimate source of holiday-themed, or specifically Christmas-themed Montessori goodness for you! If you haven’t heard, the wonderful Aubrey of Montessori Mischief has created an ebook, A Merry Montessori Christmas. I cannot say enough good things about this beautiful resource. Here’s the testimonial I shared with Aubrey for her site:

“Aubrey’s Christmas ebook is filled with all of the love and inspiration I have come to expect from everything she writes. I appreciate not only the ideas, but the way her love for doing these activities shines through in her descriptions and leaves me even more eager to get on the floor with the children in my care and see that sparkle in their eyes when a new activity captures their attention. There are so many fantastic ideas here, appropriate both for the shelves and for the home setting. Aubrey’s ideas are nothing if not adaptable. I cannot recommend this gorgeous ebook highly enough!”

…and I meant every word.

I have gotten pretty good over the years at tweaking the work on our shelves to add a holiday twist, but many of Aubrey’s ideas go much deeper than I’ve ever thought to go. She touches on all of the basic curriculum areas – not just on the super easy to spruce up Practical Life area – and it’s brilliant. What’s really special about this book is not the stunning photos or the detailed lesson plans, but the lovely tidbits that only a truly inspired Montessorian would think to add. Aubrey has experience as both teacher and mom, so she’s not pie-in-the-sky inspired, either. She’s practical. My favorite little tidbit in the book is an aside where she suggests that you, “Exaggerate your movements, especially regarding care of the materials. Model the care you want children to show. Hug the materials if you like as you get them out. They are special.” Hug the materials. I never would have thought to hug them, but they are special, and I can only imagine how much more care I’d inspire in my children, and in the children in our classroom, if I showed that level of reverence and appreciation for our work. I just might start.

Buy It

Whether you see yourself implementing any or all of the 25 ideas in A Merry Montessori Christmas this year or not, I can honestly say that I think this book is worth far more than the $4.99 Aubrey is charging for it. Just the opportunity to read it is worth that – you can save it as a resource for future years. You can purchase the book for download as a gorgeous, 68 page pdf file at Montessori Mischief.

Win It

Aubrey has offered one free copy of the book to a lucky Vibrant Wanderings reader anywhere in the world. You can enter to win using the rafflecopter widget below. This will be a shorter than average giveaway, closing on Saturday, so that the winner will have the weekend to enjoy the book and set up any activities he or she feels inclined to implement in the last remaining weeks before Christmas. Check your email Saturday morning to see if you’ve won!

Image Credit: All images in this post are courtesy of MontessoriMischief.com

Disclosure: I received a free download of A Merry Montessori Christmas for the purpose

of the review. I have not been and will not be paid, and am sharing simply because I love

My daughtr has already been sorting Christmas colored poms into bowls using different utensils and loving the simple activiy. We need to try the making some cards using the shading technique. we did leaves around the start of fall and she loved it!